Redmi NOTE 10 Pro Review; An amazing device!

I’ve had the Redmi NOTE 10 Pro as my main device for a while now. Of course, from the title, you already know my thoughts on the smartphone. I love it. I am not going to tell you its perfect, however for its price, it is the best smartphone you can get. Actually, that’s the best feature of the device: offering so much at a low price.

I have been using the Redmi NOTE 10 Pro with 8GB RAM, and 128GB storage. This is the non-5G model with the Snapdragon 732G Processor. It has a 6.67 inch FHD Super AMOLED display supporting 120Hz refresh rate with Gorilla Glass 5 Protection. The main camera is 108MP and a 16MP selfie camera. It runs Android 11 with MiUI 12. And the best part is that you get all that for KES 31,999.

In my comparison with the OPPO Reno 5 – a device I really like – the Redmi NOTE 10 Pro was my top pick because of the specs it offered compared to its price. Though the Reno 5 is very much more refined software-wise, and offers a better overall user-experience, the Redmi NOTE 10 Pro with its lower price tag, and thanks to the huge numbers it packs, just ends up feeling like the better pick.

Let’s dive in to what I’ve really loved about the Redmi NOTE 10 PRO:

Display:

The 120Hz refresh rate is great. I don’t believe there’s any other phone at this price point with a 120Hz display. It is smooth and responsive. It is also a Super AMOLED panel. Meaning you get the very best in terms of contrast ratio. The blacks are perfect and offer quite the experience when consuming content. It also gets pretty bright so you can use it comfortably even when the surrounding is quite bright. The ambient light sensor does a pretty good job, I must say, because on some phones the device may take a long time before increasing or reducing brightness of the display.

There used to be a problem with the phone when you received a phone call outdoors. The display would remain black and no matter what you did, you wouldn’t be able to answer the call. This seems to have since been fixed as I haven’t had the issue for a while now:

What I don’t like about the display is the fact that everything feels over-saturated. I was complaining about how the photos looked over-saturated, then I moved them to another device and realised the issue isn’t just the camera processing, rather it is also contributed to by the display. I don’t get why this is the case especially since I’ve set the device to Auto Colour Mode. There’s an option to set it to Saturated Mode. I can’t tell the difference between these two modes. Standard Mode on the other hand looks weirdly warm.

Design:

The pictures speak for themselves for those who haven’t seen or held the phone in person. Everything is very well done. If you love the look, you will love the feel on the hand, the weight, and the finish that’s very good at resisting fingerprints and dirt.

Performance:

I’ve had no issues with the phone’s performance. It is a great device. Really. Everything works perfect. I feel like this is a boring take, but it’s the truth. The Snapdragon 732G hasn’t failed to handle anything I’ve thrown at it.

I don’t play lots of games on my phones. However, once in a while while bored, I try to up my Career Mode on Asphalt 9. While we are at a time when most smartphones can play such games – not many can do it for long hours, with very little battery drain. Not many can do it comfortably even in high quality settings. The Redmi NOTE 10 Pro does all that, easily.

You will get occasional hiccups with the device but I want to attribute these issues to MIUI rather than to the phone’s processor and RAM. Because every time there’s a hiccup it comes up when accessing something related to MIUI. For example, when accessing the action centre, or when using MIUI’s app switcher, or when unlocking the phone. These are all things that can easily be fixed – and most of them have already been fixed with the recent huge system upgrade.

MIUI:

The Redmi NOTE 10 Pro runs MIUI 12.5.1 right now with the May 2021 Security patch. This latest version has fixed a couple of the issues I have mentioned above.

The best things about MIUI is the amount of customisation you get. You can literally make your phone as unique as possible from shifting where things appear, icons, fonts, settings, and so much more. That’s one of the main beauties of the skin.

Xiaomi also includes things like QR codes for sharing WiFi, custom equaliser settings for different types of headphones and earbuds, customisations for your Always ON display, and much more.

The best part of MIUI for me is the ‘Second Space” feature. This is something that should be available on all smartphones! It allows you to separate work, and personal things on your phone in a very nice way. Once set up, you access either your work or personal space depending on the password/fingerprint you put.

Each space runs independent of the other. Data can’t be shared between the spaces. And you can install and uninstall different apps on either space. You also have to sign in separately to the main apps on each space, so you can use different accounts and have different phone numbers work on the different spaces since its a dual SIM phone. It is a good feature if you have two different users sharing one smartphone.

I love that Xiaomi has focused on the main Google apps people love leaving them as the default apps instead of having those built by Xiaomi. For example the Dialler is by Google. So are the Messaging app, the Browser, the Calendar, the Mail and the Photos apps. When you swipe form the left of the Home Screen, you also get your Google Feed. Also, in the camera app, Google Lens is readily available.

Battery:

Once you’re used to a 65W charger as I was with the Reno 5, anything else feels slower. That’s the one feature I miss on the Redmi NOTE 10 Pro. The 33W charger feels much slower. However, that’s unfair to the device because the 5020mAh battery lasts long, and charges pretty fast all the same.

I can get over a day of normal use on the device comfortably. There are days I’ve had the phone on for up to 3 days with ought having to worry about charging it. For example when using the device for basic things like social media, casting, and phone calls. The battery life is amazing. And there’re very many customisations you can do to ensure you get even better battery life.

Cameras:

The 108MP camera is great. For the price, it is more than great actually. No other seller has a 108MP camera on a smartphone at this price point. That’s where Xiaomi always stands out: offering so much for so little.

I don’t think you’ll bother much with the 8MP ultra-wide, the 2MP depth, and 2MP macro sensors. I think for everyone focus will be on the 108MP main sensor, and the 16MP selfie camera. Of which, both are great cameras.

You will take really good pictures with this phone provided you’re in good lighting. And like I said under Display, the saturation you see on the pictures will be both thanks to the camera’s processing and the display itself. What I know is people love saturated photos, so if you’re into that, it will be quite the experience for you. Also, for sharing to social media, and for the usual keeping of memories, the cameras are more than serviceable.

Photos taken by the Redmi NOTE 10 Pro:

The camera app has some learning curve to it, but it takes a short time before you figure out how to go about everything.

If you want to take full 108MP photos, the best part is the amount of detail the camera will keep. When you zoom in you will see details you didn’t expect the camera to have saved from the photo.

Shooting videos on both the front and the back cameras is great provided you have some form of stabilisation if you’re moving to reduce shake. The quality from both the front and the back cameras is good enough for anyone looking to use the phone as their main camera for YouTube content. The microphones are also great for capturing audio.

Conclusion:

This is a great smartphone for its price. If you get it, you will enjoy having a device that performs really well, lasts really long, has a 120Hz AMOLED display, has good cameras, and looks really good. The only thing this phone needs is some refinements to MIUI, and assured updated. It is a great device, go ahead and buy one.

Redmi NOTE 10 PRO Specifications: